01 April 2011

The Quran made them do it.

Earlier today a mob in Afghanistan attacked a United Nations compound, killing at least 8 workers. Two of the victims were reportedly beheaded.
The crowd was reacting to a Quran burning on March 20th by a US fundamentalist Christian pastor named Terry Jones.

What would make people behave in this way, you wonder?

The book that Terry Jones burned. That's what.

Here is what the Quran says about beheading people.

I will throw fear into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Then smite the necks and smite of them each finger. That is because they opposed Allah and His messenger. Whoso opposeth Allah and His messenger, (for him) lo! Allah is severe in punishment.Quran 8:12-13

Now when ye meet in battle those who disbelieve, then it is smiting of the necks ... if Allah willed He could have punished them (without you) but (thus it is ordained) that He may try some of you by means of others. And those who are slain in the way of Allah, He rendereth not their actions vain. Quran 47:4

The mob was just doing what Allah told them to do in the Quran: to strike fear into the hearts of unbelievers by smiting their necks. (The news reports didn't say anything about smiting unbelievers' fingers.)
The whole thing has made me change my mind about Quran burning.

A while back I wrote a post entitled, "Don't burn the Quran. Read it." But a book that tells its followers to strike fear into the hearts of unbelievers by beheading them is a book that no one should read or respect.

Go ahead and burn the damned thing. The world would be much better without it.

13 comments:

Simply ridiculous. Goes to show you that such violent conflicts aren't all about "politics."

I'm curious though, Steve, how would you respond to modern Muslims or others who claim that such verses in the Quran that promote violence upon the unbeliever only qualify during battle/war - as the verse on beheading seemed to suggest?

Or are they right and it's just a matter of whether the Muslim believes they are at war with the West or not?

psybermonkey,Yeah, that's a good question. Does Allah want believers to behead all unbelievers, or just those that fought against Muhammad, or those that happen to live in a country that is fighting against Muslims, or those that oppose Allah and his messenger, or those that work for the UN, or those that write blogs that criticize the Quran, or what?

I have no idea. I just know that it's wrong to behead people. Since the Quran says otherwise, I know that Allah is not God and Muhammad is not a prophet.

My understanding is that Karzai informed the Afghans of the Koran burning in the US. Given that there have been plenty of other outrages against Islam in the US, we should wonder why he needed to incite people against the US (or direct attention away from himself) at this particular time. I feel terribly sorry for what will happen to the women and children of Afghanistan, but I will not be sad when Karzai is beheaded.

"But a book that tells its followers to strike fear into the hearts of unbelievers by beheading them is a book that no one should read or respect."

I have no respect at all for such a book. But I did get a copy and have started to read it. I'm reading it because I want to see for myself exactly what's in it. When a muslim apologist tells me that Islam is "a religion of peace", I want to be able to cite chapter and verse to show that it isn't. I want to know what I'm talking about.

Do not isolate the Quran in "promoting" violence. Take a good look at the Bible, both Old and New Testament - hundred of reference to violence: "And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive? ... Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.-- Leviticus 31:15-19" Keep only the virgins?? Is this the Quran or the Bible?"But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.-- Luke 19:27" Straight from the Bible.